Electricity bills drop by 20% in the second quarter. But the cleaver of system charges is already in sight

MILAN. In the second quarter of this year, electricity bills could drop by “more than 20%”. This is the estimate that came from the president of Arera Stefano Besseghini today on the sidelines of the Top Utility conference in Milan. This is good news for families. However, the guard still remains high because the emergency is not over and a new maxi increase could already be triggered in April linked to the stop to the cancellation of system charges.

If the light goes down, what will happen to the gas bill? In today’s words of the president of Arera «having made a big leap between January and February, the gas bill is unlikely to make another one, bearing in mind that with today’s prices we are around 40 euros per megawatt hour. I’m not saying that we are at historical values ​​but we are much closer than before, so the jumps are also decreasing».

Returning to the light, «a 20% reduction would mean that the annual bill, for a typical protected family that has average electricity consumption of 2,700 kWh kilowatt hours per year and a committed power of 3 kW, would drop from 1434 to 1147 euros , with a decrease equal to 287 euros on an annual basis – says Marco Vignola, head of the energy sector of the National Consumer Union -. In any case, the emergency would be far from over. In fact, the price of light would be more than double compared to the corresponding period of 2021, when the invoice would have been equal to only 541 euros, a good 606 euros less». Vignola continues: For this reason, the Government must renew all the discounts expiring on 31 March, from the zeroing of system charges to the 5% VAT on gas. It would be an own goal for the country not to do it, a Caporetto for the Italians. It is also urgent to postpone the end of the protected electricity market, which for condominiums and associations is expected in less than 1 month, on April 1, 2023, only because they are incomprehensibly considered micro-enterprises» concludes Vignola.

Codacons also follows the same line: «Any reduction in bills is good news for consumers, but the Government must give a signal in terms of zeroing system charges, a measure which will expire on 31 March and which, in the absence of an extension could lead to a sudden increase in tariffs as early as April, considering that system charges, at full capacity, account for about 22% of Italians’ electricity bills» says Carlo Rienzi, president of the consumers’ association.

In the event of failure to extend the measure, the reintroduction of charges and VAT would weigh 386.37 euros per year per family, causing the electricity bill to grow, starting from April, on the basis of current tariffs, by +27% compared to today’s tariffs . It is the calculation of Absoutenti. “For this reason we ask the Government to extend the cut in VAT and system charges until the electricity and gas tariffs have returned to the 2020 values” says Furio Truzzi, president of Assoutenti.